Natural gas has been used as fuel for internal combustion engines in consist locomotives. Because natural gas has a lower volumetric energy density than traditional fuels, such as diesel and gasoline, the natural gas used by the locomotives is generally only practical to store in a liquefied state (“LNG”). At atmospheric pressures, the natural gas must be chilled to below about −160° C. to remain in liquid form. Consists having LNG-fueled locomotives store the LNG in insulated tank cars (a.k.a., tender cars) that are towed by the locomotive. An exemplary consist having an LNG-fueled locomotive coupled with a dedicated tender car is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,766 of McLaughlin that issued on Jun. 25, 2002.
Although the conventional method of coupling a dedicated tender car to a single locomotive helps to ensure an adequate supply of fuel for most travel routes, it can also be cumbersome and expensive, while also decreasing an efficiency of a consist. In particular, when multiple locomotives are required to pull a consist, the extra tender cars (one per locomotive) increase a component cost, operating cost, and maintenance cost, and operating complexity of the consist. In addition, the extra tender cars increase an overall weight of the consist and a required capacity and fuel consumption of the locomotives.
The system of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems with existing technologies.